Is biden the biggest user of autopen in history
Executive summary
There is no sourced evidence in the materials provided that Joe Biden is “the biggest user of autopen in history.” Reporting shows autopen use is routine across administrations, Republicans have amplified concerns about Biden’s autopen use, and congressional Republicans released a report alleging misuse but without direct proof that aides acted without Biden’s knowledge [1] [2] [3]. Media accounts say it is unclear how many Biden-era documents were signed by autopen and note past legal opinions that permit authorized autopen use [4] [5].
1. Autopens are longstanding White House tools, not novel to Biden
The autopen — a machine that mechanically replicates a signature — has been used by multiple presidents for decades; reporting underscores that its use is common and not unique to Joe Biden [1] [5]. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has previously said the president may authorize an official to affix his signature by autopen for bills and other documents, establishing a legal baseline for the practice [6] [7].
2. Republican probes and rhetoric drove the recent flap
House Republicans and conservative outlets framed Biden’s autopen use as evidence of diminished capacity and improper delegation. The House Oversight Committee published a staff report alleging that autopen use was insufficiently controlled and implying aides sometimes acted on behalf of the president, but the report has not produced direct evidence that decisions were made without Biden’s knowledge [3] [8]. Republicans then used those allegations to press investigations and political attacks [8].
3. Major media say evidence of widespread unauthorized autopen signing is lacking
Mainstream outlets reported that congressional probes “did not cite any direct evidence” that anyone other than Biden made the substantive decisions signed via autopen, and that the extent of autopen use by Biden is unclear in public reporting [2] [1]. Multiple news organizations emphasize uncertainty about how many executive orders, pardons or other documents were actually autopen-signed during Biden’s tenure [4] [5].
4. Trump escalated the issue politically and legally
After Republicans publicized the issue, President Donald Trump declared he would “terminate” documents signed by Biden with an autopen and threatened perjury charges if Biden said he had authorized autopen signings — a move reported across outlets and framed as political theater by some outlets given legal and practical limits [4] [6] [9]. Trump’s announcements rest on the premise that autopen use equates to lack of presidential authorization; available reporting shows that premise is contested and not demonstrated with evidence [10] [11].
5. Counting “biggest user” requires data the public reporting does not provide
Claims that Biden is the “biggest user in history” imply a quantitative comparison across presidencies. Available sources explicitly state the extent of Biden’s autopen use is unknown or not disclosed and that reporting does not quantify autopen usage across presidents, so the data needed to support a “biggest user” label is not present in current reporting [1] [4]. Any definitive ranking cannot be supported from the cited materials.
6. Two competing narratives dominate the coverage
One narrative—promoted by Republican investigators and sympathetic outlets—portrays autopen use under Biden as symptomatic of abdicated authority and possible misconduct [3] [8]. The competing narrative, appearing in mainstream coverage, stresses routine administrative practice, DOJ legal precedent permitting authorized autopen signatures, and a lack of direct evidence that Biden did not authorize what was signed in his name [7] [2] [5].
7. What the reporting does — and does not — prove
Reporting proves autopen use occurred in the Biden White House and that Republicans have alleged misuse; it does not prove Biden was uniquely reliant on the device or that autopen use equates to unauthorized governance [1] [3]. The oversight report and media accounts raise questions but stop short of documented proof that aides substituted for the president in decision-making [3] [2].
8. Why this matters beyond signatures
If autopen use were shown to be unauthorized or systematically abused, it would raise constitutional and accountability concerns; however, legal precedent allows autopen use when authorized by the president, blunting simple claims that autopen-signed actions are void per se [7] [6]. Political actors exploit the issue for both delegitimizing opponents and for policy rollbacks — as seen in Trump’s move to “cancel” autopen-signed orders [4] [11].
Conclusion: available sources do not document that Biden is the “biggest user of autopen in history.” The materials show routine institutional use, partisan investigations and public accusations, but not the hard comparative data or direct evidence required to substantiate that superlative claim [1] [2] [3].